Driver ejection,NHRA cover up at St. Louis

[Bobby Fazio]

Sorry to hear this, did the reverse lockout not work then?

Anyways I have a question somewhat related. At the Englishtown national event a few years back in Stock E2 I got a head start in the right lane and while getting chased by a fast car he got loose and came into my lane from behind. I was watching in the rear view the whole way. I wanted to cross over into the left lane to get out of his way but thought that would be terrible and confuse him if he was trying to correct. Would I have lost? The other thing was I kept my foot to the floor trying to get away from him and hopefully give him room to get stopped but if I would have went quicker than my dial would I have also lost? He did a good job and got it under control and it didn't end up being serious but after that race I was wondering was the race over once he crossed into my lane?

[Lenny5160]

Originally Posted by Bobby Fazio

Anyways I have a question somewhat related. At the Englishtown national event a few years back in Stock E2 I got a head start in the right lane and while getting chased by a fast car he got loose and came into my lane from behind. I was watching in the rear view the whole way. I wanted to cross over into the left lane to get out of his way but thought that would be terrible and confuse him if he was trying to correct. Would I have lost? The other thing was I kept my foot to the floor trying to get away from him and hopefully give him room to get stopped but if I would have went quicker than my dial would I have also lost? He did a good job and got it under control and it didn't end up being serious but after that race I was wondering was the race over once he crossed into my lane?

If you broke out, you would have won because he crossed into your lane.

If you crossed into his lane, you would win because he did the same thing first.

As far as the race being over once he crossed into your lane, I'm not sure about that. If you went and stuffed your car into the wall, is that worse? Or are they both just boundary infractions at the same level. But you could have gone red, broke out, or changed lanes after your opponent did and still be the winner.

I really don't know how it works if you would have come up light or failed fuel check with your opponent swapping lanes.

[Bob Don]

At Epping Nats a few years ago, a couple of A list stocker drivers (who shall remain nameless) ran each other. One got crossed up in the lights after braking and spun, doing a 360 in front of the other, who had to lock his brakes up to avoid a collision. If I remember correctly, no one got tossed. (But the incident made the highlight reel!)

[Bruce Kastle]

Thanks for your feed back guys, I accepted the ruling that was made right away, just didn't care for the misinformation reported to DRC on the MPH to make it appear that he was skidding across the finish line OR the autocratic attitude and threat of a year suspension! I've read the rule book and you have to jump back and forth between sections, it basically states that the race director can make a judgment call, and right or wrong, it can not appealed for the sake of expediting the race to conclusion. Accepted as written. It's just that this is the only business who's representatives can treat the customers with no respect and expect them to return. I guess that's why the car counts at S/SS assoc. races are increasing while they are low at a lot of NHRA events. Maybe NHRA should have a satisfaction survey request on the back of your ticket, like McDonalds does for a $1 hamburger.

[t.tosto]

All good points Bruce, I think you handled the situation well, Tony.

[Mike Fuller]

Originally Posted by Bruce Kastle

Thanks for your feed back guys, I accepted the ruling that was made right away, just didn't care for the misinformation reported to DRC on the MPH to make it appear that he was skidding across the finish line OR the autocratic attitude and threat of a year suspension! I've read the rule book and you have to jump back and forth between sections, it basically states that the race director can make a judgment call, and right or wrong, it can not appealed for the sake of expediting the race to conclusion. Accepted as written. It's just that this is the only business who's representatives can treat the customers with no respect and expect them to return. I guess that's why the car counts at S/SS assoc. races are increasing while they are low at a lot of NHRA events. Maybe NHRA should have a satisfaction survey request on the back of your ticket, like McDonalds does for a $1 hamburger.

Good luck with that. There is no competition. They really don't care. Going to the association races is your only alternative.

[Speer Drag Racing]

The ruling was excessive braking. If you took 2 minutes to go back and look at the video that D3TV now thankfully gives us, you can see he was well past the finish line and his story backs the case of putting it in Reverse. I would imagine the DD would have had access to this video since even I was able to rewind and watch it immediately after it happened. With championships on the line it seems to me an immediate DQ should have adequate evidence. Now if you are DQ'ing him for making a mistake and then threatening a year suspension you are opening a huge can of worms. Do you DQ someone for not tightening up the front end and doing an uncontrollable wheelie if they don't cross the center line? They made a mistake on an adjustment that could have potentially put the other racer in danger if they would have crossed. We all make mistakes and we all know racing has it's dangers and as many people here have pointed out there were a lot of "what-ifs" but where is the line that someone has subjective control of the outcome of a race? From the sounds of some of these responses I am sure glad some of you are not DD's!

[BG56]

Charlotte Rd4 SS Sat. night when they were lapping everyone Keith Lynch left second and a high-flying Camaro was heading towards him. He lifted to miss any 'occurance', got back in it and of course, couldn't run the number. Tough Luck??!

[Bob Mulry]

Originally Posted by Lenny5160

If you broke out, you would have won because he crossed into your lane.

If you crossed into his lane, you would win because he did the same thing first.

As far as the race being over once he crossed into your lane, I'm not sure about that. If you went and stuffed your car into the wall, is that worse? Or are they both just boundary infractions at the same level. But you could have gone red, broke out, or changed lanes after your opponent did and still be the winner.

I really don't know how it works if you would have come up light or failed fuel check with your opponent swapping lanes.

This is an easy call......

First or Worst...

Light or bad fuel means that when you lit the stage bulb the car was illegal.....

Crossing the lane line is the worst infraction that there is...

For the most part first or worst works very well and, as far back as I can remember, it has always been this way...

[Lenny5160]

Originally Posted by Bob Mulry

This is an easy call......

First or Worst...

Light or bad fuel means that when you lit the stage bulb the car was illegal.....

Crossing the lane line is the worst infraction that there is...

For the most part first or worst works very well and, as far back as I can remember, it has always been this way...

I'm not 100% clear on what the 'easy call' result would be.

From what you've written, crossing the lane line is the worst infraction there is, so that driver would be the loser since Worst trump First? Illegal car wins?